Editor\u2019s Note: Call to Earth is a CNN editorial series committed to reporting on the environmental challenges facing our planet, together with the solutions.\u00a0Rolex\u2019s Perpetual Planet Initiative<\/a>\u00a0has partnered with CNN to drive awareness and education around key sustainability issues and to inspire positive action.<\/p>\n As Global Tiger Day rolls around, there\u2019s good news for the big cats in Thailand.<\/p>\n The tiger population in the country\u2019s Western Forest Complex<\/a> (WEFCOM) \u2014 an 18,000-square-kilometer (6,950-square-mile) area of forest encompassing 11 national parks and six wildlife sanctuaries \u2014 is estimated to have more than tripled between 2007 and 2023, from 41 to 143.<\/p>\n The remarkable comeback was observed in a new collaborative study<\/a> led by Thailand\u2019s Department of National Parks (DNP) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), newly published online in the scientific journal Global Ecology and Conservation.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just tigers bouncing back: a companion study<\/a>, published alongside the tiger assessment, found that populations of threatened ungulate species<\/a> \u2014 hoofed mammals like deer and wild cattle, that are the main prey for the tigers \u2014 have doubled in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, one of three protected areas, along with Thung Yai East (TYE) and Thung Yai West, in the forest complex.<\/p>\n This increase reflects \u201cmore effective management\u201d of the forest and is the result of more than a decade of conservation interventions, says Pornkamol\u00a0Jornburom, director of WCS Thailand and one of the wildlife biologists working on the new study.<\/p>\n \u201cThis forest complex is the home of many endangered species,\u201d says Jornburom. She hopes WEFCOM can be \u201ca role model for conservation and recovery of the wildlife population.\u201d<\/p>\n Jornburom, who has worked on conservation projects in WEFCOM since 2005, says that she\u2019s seen the landscape change dramatically.<\/p>\n One of the biggest threats to wildlife in the area is poaching, which is best combated with patrols. In 2005, these were limited in number and not systematic, says Jornburom, adding that rangers \u201cwould maybe report back to their managers verbally, so there was no data collection or recordings.\u201d<\/p>\n But WEFCOM \u2014 the biggest forest area in Thailand, and the largest forest track in mainland Southeast Asia, according to WCS<\/a> \u2014 is a hugely important habitat, not just for tigers, but endangered animals including<\/a> Asian elephants, hornbills, and banteng. The complex has a huge diversity<\/a> of species too: 150 mammals, 490 birds and 90 reptiles.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also a relatively uncommon landscape in the region. Most tiger conservation focuses on protecting small, isolated areas, but WEFCOM connects multiple national parks and protected areas through forest corridors across a wide expanse \u2014 vital for tigers, which require up to 300 square kilometers (115 square miles)<\/a> of habitat to roam.<\/p>\nA roaring success<\/h3>\n